The Launch of SPIMA Therapeutics

PE: SPIMA was funded with a strong academic foundation and support from multiple institutions. What can you tell us about these collaborative partnerships and how they help develop SPIMA’s pipeline?

Ayad: SPIMA was born thanks to collaboration between two prominent institutions in the University of Montpellier in France. The first is IBMM, which specializes in the chemistry of peptides, and the second is IRMB, which specializes in the pharmacology of inflammation. Basically, scientists at IBMM designed the initial lead drug candidates, which are stable peptide, and then the scientist at IRMB were able to test them in vitro and in vivo.

They worked together for several years, and they brought the lead candidate to the pre-clinical phase through a global patent. At one point, the technology transfer office at the University of Montpellier felt that it was time to create a spinoff company in order to bring it to a clinical phase, and this is where I joined the team. We are continuing to collaborate with the technology transfer office and with the joint scientific institutions in order to progress our lead drug candidate.

Full Interview Summary: Spima was founded through a collaborative effort between two academic institutions in southern France: IBMM, specializing in peptide chemistry, and IRMB, focusing on inflammation pharmacology. This partnership enabled the design of stable peptide drug candidates by IBMM and their in vitro and in vivo testing by IRMB, leading to the preclinical development and patenting of the lead candidate. The University of Montpellier's Technology Transfer Office facilitated the creation of Spima to advance these discoveries into clinical development.

Spima focuses on peptide-based immunotherapies due to their unique ability to target intracellular protein-protein interactions. Unlike small molecules, which lack specificity, or large molecules, such as antibodies, which cannot penetrate cells, peptides occupy a middle ground. Spima’s stable peptides demonstrate both cell permeability and specificity, making them ideal for addressing these challenging targets.

The company prioritizes indications with high unmet medical needs. Acute pancreatitis, with over 130,000 annual U.S. cases but no FDA-approved treatments, is a key focus. Other targets include scleroderma, a severe autoimmune disease, and cancers such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with MYD88 mutations, where Spima’s drug candidates have shown promising potential.

From a regulatory perspective, Spima anticipates minimal hurdles, as peptides are well-established in drug development, akin to small molecules. Recent approvals of peptide-based therapies for conditions like obesity further reinforce this outlook.

Spima emphasizes patient-centric design, guided by one of its co-founders, a physician specializing in inflammatory diseases. The company aims to integrate patient and physician insights from the earliest stages of drug design and expand these collaborations through clinical trials and advisory boards, ensuring that patient needs remain central to therapeutic development.